I talked to a founder last month who’d been through four marketing managers in three years.
Four.
Each one started strong. Good experience. Sharp. Great attitude.
Then “didn’t work out.”
When I dug in, the pattern was obvious.
There was no clear ownership of marketing. No defined authority over budget or campaigns. No way to succeed or fail independently.
Every decision got pulled back to the founder.
So every marketing manager eventually gave up trying to lead and became an order-taker. Then the founder got frustrated that they weren’t leading.
The system created the behaviour. Then the founder blamed the person.
Here’s what I’ve learned after doing this dozens of times.
Good people don’t fix bad systems. Bad systems break good people.
We stopped looking for person number five. Fixed the system instead.
Defined exactly what the role owned. Gave clear authority over budget up to a threshold. Set up weekly check-ins focused on metrics, not tasks.
Then we hired. Same calibre of person as before.
She’s still there 18 months later. Running the whole function. Making decisions daily without checking with the founder.
Same business. Same founder. Same talent pool. Different system.
Before you hire again, ask yourself these questions.
What exactly will this person own?
What decisions can they make without asking?
How will we know if they’re succeeding?
If you can’t answer those questions, you’re not ready to hire.
Lloyd
PS – Want to see where your systems are strong and where they’re breaking down? Take the free Operations Readiness Assessment. Five minutes, no pitch: Operational Readiness Assessment




